s-CRY-ed

Original Title: スクライド
Romanized: s.CRY.ed
Literal:

Plot Synopsis

At the beginning of the 21st century, a mysterious natural disaster destroyed the capital area of Japan in a massive upheaval of the Earth's crust. 22 years later, 2% of the area's population are born with Alter abilities--superhuman powers that that make them feared within the now isolated Lost Ground at the site of the calamity. In the center of this broken land is a city governed by HOLD, and HOLY, the police force that they use to subdue alter users. Young Kazuma is one of these Alter users, using his powers to feed himself as a bounty hunter, but his life will change drastically when HOLY takes notice of him.

Quick Review

Rating: 3 / 5
Reviewer: Legion
Review Date: 2004-05-03

It's no secret I'm a big fan of good old fashion fighting anime and post apocalyptic settings. When I heard S-CRY-ed combines the two, my interest was peaked and after five episodes it's delivering the goods. The plot, while hardly original, isn't cookie-cutter and I found the characters rather likable, or at least interesting enough to keep me watching. Plus they're backed up by an overall good English voice cast. The concept of Alter powers is used to produce unique designs. The main character, Kazuma, summons a robotic-like arm with three "bullet" attacks, another character summons a huge gun, another summons small green balls to attack or possess others, and so on. I liked that creative aspect and it made for some varied fight scenes which were fairly well animated and decently choreographed. The show's presentation has some style to it, which leads me to believe the folks who worked on it know what they're doing.

If you're like me and enjoy super powered, over-the-top shonen anime, s-CRY-ed is definitely worth a look. The interesting setting and likable characters may even rope in people who don't normally go for that sort of thing. It's obvious from the get-go that s-CRY-ed won't break the mold, but I have a feeling it'll hit most of the marks just about right, making it one of those series that'll bring a grin to my face whenever I think or talk about it.

Notes and Trivia

Official s.CRY.ed website

Availability

Available in the US from Bandai on 6 bilingual DVDs.

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